Friday, December 03, 2010

* Evidence from the Great Recession Is in: Migration Flows Dropped, Unemployment Among Certain Immigrants Rose * The Arizona Effect: When National Governments Fail, Others React * Painful Cuts to Integration Budgets - Even in Places Committed to Immigrant Integration * Europe, Wary of Immigration and Immigrants, Reaches an Inflection Point * United States Still Stalled on Immigration Reform, Republican Victories in Midterm Elections Change Landscape * Remittances Rebound After Recession * When All Else Fails, Leave: Emigration from Europe's New Destinations on the Rise * Not Just the Highly Skilled - Only the Best and Brightest, Please* Crackdown on Illegal Migration Makes Greece Main Entry Point to Europe* Natural Disasters in Haiti and Pakistan Highlight Diaspora Response

EDITOR'S NOTE* Top 10 Highlights and Saying Good-Bye

ALSO ON THE MIGRATION INFORMATION SOURCE* Country Resources and US Coverage

NEW FROM MPI* Structuring and Implementing an Immigrant Legalization Program: Registration as the First Step* Top Languages Spoken by English Language Learners (ELLs) Nationally and by State

Issue #1: Evidence from the Great Recession Is In: Migration Flows Dropped, Unemployment Among Certain Immigrants Rose www.migrationinformation.org/Feature/display.cfm?id=808The writing was on the wall by late 2009, but 2010 confirmed the migration trends glimpsed months earlier in major immigrant-receiving countries: the global recession that began in late 2007 caused migration flows to drop, halting rapid immigrant population growth, and it pushed unemployment levels for some immigrants far higher than those of the native born.

Issue #2: The Arizona Effect: When National Governments Fail, Others React www.migrationinformation.org/Feature/display.cfm?id=809Arizona's simmering frustration with the federal immigration system - which has failed to stop illegal immigration through Arizona's border with Mexico - officially boiled over when the state legislature passed and Governor Jan Brewer signed SB 1070 in April 2010.

Issue #3: Painful Cuts to Integration Budgets - Even in Places Committed to Immigrant Integration www.migrationinformation.org/Feature/display.cfm?id=810There's no getting around the fact that integrating immigrants costs money. That explains why recession-battered European countries, as well as a number of US states, made cuts to programs affecting immigrants in 2009 and again in 2010.

Issue #4: Europe, Wary of Immigration and Immigrants, Reaches an Inflection Point www.migrationinformation.org/Feature/display.cfm?id=814A number of events in 2010 across the continent, and particularly in places long seen as moderate, seem to indicate a larger shift away from openness.

Issue #5: United States Still Stalled on Immigration Reform, Republican Victories in Midterm Elections Change Landscapewww.migrationinformation.org/Feature/display.cfm?id=811Anyone who expected 2010 would bring comprehensive immigration reform did not account for the Obama administration's priorities of passing health-care reform and improving the economy - essentially the same issues that guided the president in 2009.

Issue #6: Remittances Rebound After Recession www.migrationinformation.org/Feature/display.cfm?id=812The worst is over, but the outlook remains grim. This seemed to be the general storyline for economic activity in developed countries during 2010 and is largely true for remittance flows as well.

Issue #7: When All Else Fails, Leave: Emigration from Europe's New Destinations on the Rise www.migrationinformation.org/Feature/display.cfm?id=813Although non-Irish nationals, particularly those from Eastern Europe, led the exodus, Irish nationals now make up a sizeable proportion of those leaving, and Greece appears poised to become a net exporter of people as well.

Issue #8: Not Just the Highly Skilled - Only the Best and Brightest, Pleasewww.migrationinformation.org/Feature/display.cfm?id=815In these lean times, countries still want the talent - key to their long-term competitiveness - but a handful want more assurance they're getting the cream of the cream, as well as skills they don't have already.

Issue #9: Crackdown on Illegal Migration Makes Greece Main Entry Point to Europewww.migrationinformation.org/Feature/display.cfm?id=816When there's a will, there's a way - migrants seeking illegal entry have proven the old proverb true countless times as they and their smugglers have adapted to enforcement strategies. The latest development in the cat-and-mouse game comes not from the United States, but from Europe.

Issue #10: Natural Disasters in Haiti and Pakistan Highlight Diaspora Response www.migrationinformation.org/Feature/display.cfm?id=817Haiti and Pakistan were an unlikely pair until 2010, when horrific natural disasters made it impossible for the world to ignore their devastation.